Doña Ana County Poll Results on Wilderness and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

HomeDoña Ana County Poll Results on Wilderness and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

This report is based on findings from a poll of 300 active registered voters in Doña Ana County, New Mexico. Drawn from a list of registered voters who have voted in either 2012 or 2014, or have registered since the 2012 general election, interviews were conducted on the nights of April 18 and 19, 2016. The survey has a margin of error of ±6.6 percent. Both cell phones and landline numbers were called. Each voter in the county with a known phone number had an opportunity to be called. Random selection was made in households with multiple eligible voters.

Key Results from the survey:

Voters have an overwhelmingly positive view of the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument. Overall, three-fifths (61%) of voters have a positive view towards the Monument while a small minority (14%) express a negative view. This positive assessment united majorities of liberals, moderates, and conservatives. No significant negative feeling exists among any segment of the electorate.

Voters strongly support legislation to protect wilderness areas within the Monument. More than three-fourths (78%) favor passing a law to designating “Wilderness Study Areas” in the Monument as “wilderness” so that the land is protected to remain intact without new roads or other structures. Nearly all (96%) liberals and most moderates (80%) support this. Conservatives also favor this protection by a two-to-one margin.

Voters support protecting wilderness for a wide variety of reasons. Large majorities say they are more likely to support protecting wilderness because it will improve the quality of wildlife habitats, preserve land for future generations to use, protect the most pristine lands from damage, protect watershed and downstream communities, increase tourism, and offer new opportunities for recreation and enjoyment.

The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument has strong support from voters in Doña Ana County and they favor greater protections for wilderness because they believe it will have a positive impact on the Monument, their lives, and the community.